Duken

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Sparta sat by the bed, holding the enlistment notice Eric had sent over.

At that moment, he was both excited and nervous.

He was excited because joining the Military Department meant leaving the Viltrumite Empire and heading into space to carry out missions.

He was nervous because he knew nothing about the Military Department's environment. He did not know whether veteran soldiers would deliberately bully recruits for amusement, what the other recruits would be like, or whether they would be hard to get along with.

Time ticked away, and soon it was eight in the morning.

The door was pushed open. Sparta knew Eric had arrived.

Sure enough, accompanied by heavy footsteps, Eric soon reached the bedroom door.

He stood outside, silently staring at Sparta, who sat by the bed.

"Let's go. To the Military Department."

Sparta rose to his feet and asked doubtfully, "What should I bring?"

Eric gently shook his head. "You don't need to bring anything. Just keep your enlistment notice with you. The Military Department will prepare everything else for you."

"I understand."

With his enlistment notice in hand, he followed Eric out of the house.

Eric took off first, with Sparta close behind. One after the other, they flew into the distance.

Before long, an enormous building appeared before them.

Sparta had no idea how tall it was, but he was certain it was at least ten thousand meters high.

Their destination was on the right side of that massive building: the 21st Recruit Company.

As they neared their destination, more and more Viltrumites filled the sky. At a glance, there were no fewer than a thousand flying overhead.

Sparta's attention was not held by those Viltrumites for long, because most of his thoughts were focused on that building.

What kind of building was that? Who was inside? What kind of people were qualified to enter such a place?

Eric turned back. Seeing how interested Sparta was, he began to explain.

"That is the Military Department Command Center. It is twelve thousand meters tall, three thousand three hundred and thirty-three meters wide, and has a total of two thousand five hundred floors. It is divided into the lower, middle, upper, and top sections. It is the tallest building in the Viltrumite Empire."

"Most Military Department officers live inside. Only those with the rank of warrant officer or above are qualified to reside there."

"The higher the floor, the higher the rank. Your mother and I both live in the upper section, while the top section is occupied by a group of generals."

"We're at the recruit camp. Follow me down."

Sparta followed Eric as they landed in the Recruit Company's plaza, where quite a few recruits had already gathered to report in.

Some had come with their fathers, some with their mothers, and some had come alone.

They all shared one trait: they were victors of the Coming-of-Age Trial.

"Colonel Eric."

A dark-skinned Viltrumite approached Eric with his child and offered a respectful salute.

Eric gave a slight nod and answered with a lukewarm, "Mm."

The other man was not offended. He merely led his child aside in silence.

Sparta looked over the dark-skinned child, who was likewise examining him.

Their gazes met, and the other boy grinned, showing two rows of teeth.

Perhaps because of his dark skin, those two rows of teeth looked absurdly white.

"Mm—!"

The boy raised an arm, clenched his fist hard, and made a sound like he was constipated.

He was clearly showing off his biceps.

Sparta turned his head away and ignored him.

Smack!

At the crisp sound of a slap, Sparta turned curiously to look.

The dark-skinned Viltrumite had slapped the smooth back of his son's head.

"I told you not to make that stupid gesture again, Duken."

Duken rubbed the back of his head with a wronged expression.

But when he noticed Sparta looking at him, he bared those two rows of gleaming white teeth again.

So this bald dark-skinned boy was called Duken. He looked like an idiot.

Sparta thought to himself that although the Viltrumite Empire was oppressive, it did not lack lively people.

Maybe it was because they were young and had little experience.

Once they got older and experienced more, they would probably become cold and ruthless too.

"Sparta, go register over there."

Sparta followed Eric's gaze.

A recording clerk sat at a table not far away, with several Viltrumites standing behind him, their hands clasped behind their backs.

"Okay."

Sparta nodded. Holding his enlistment notice, he stepped out from behind Eric and took his place at the end of the line to wait for registration.

Duken likewise stepped out from behind his father and lined up behind Sparta.

"I just heard that your name is Sparta, right?"

Sparta turned around and looked at Duken behind him. "That's right. I know your name is Duken."

"Hehehe." Duken rubbed his smooth scalp and grinned like a fool. "I don't have any friends. Do you want to be friends with me?"

"What kind of friends?"

"The kind where you hit me, and I hit you."

"What did you say?"

"Isn't that what friends are? My father said friends are people who get together and fight every day. The harder they fight, the better their relationship is."

"You... I... he... uh..."

Sparta was momentarily speechless. Since when had friends been defined as people who beat each other up?

Oh—this was the Viltrumite Empire. Then it was fine. Perfectly normal.

He did not understand it, but he respected it.

"I don't need friends."

To avoid getting beaten up, Sparta replied expressionlessly.

After all, he was powerless, while Duken, this guy, was built like a calf.

He could not beat him. No way he could beat him.

"Ah, alright."

Duken sighed with a regretful look.

Sparta's eyelid twitched. He seriously suspected Duken had masochistic tendencies.

Otherwise, why would he want to make friends just to beat each other up?

The two fell silent as the line reached Sparta.

"Notice."

The clerk spoke without even raising his head.

Sparta hurriedly placed the enlistment notice in his hand on the table.

The clerk opened it, took out the documents inside, casually glanced over them, and set them aside.

"Sparta Quinte, Second Platoon, Third Squad. Next."

The clerk waved a hand, signaling Sparta to leave.

Sparta stepped into the only passage ahead. Beyond it was a spacious hall.

Inside stood three rows of neatly arranged recruits, with three officer-like Viltrumites standing in front of each row.

Seeing this, Sparta silently joined the line marked "Second Platoon."

Not long after he took his place, Duken entered as well and joined the first squad's line.

Once all the recruits had completed registration, the officers standing before each platoon said:

"First Platoon, follow me!"

"Second Platoon, follow me!"

"Third Platoon, follow me!"

Sparta followed the group through a corridor and arrived at the dormitory area for Second Platoon.

Three squad leaders stood there waiting for them with cold expressions.

The platoon commander stopped and turned to look at the twenty-seven recruits, Sparta included.

"Now, follow your squad leaders into the dormitories."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three squad leaders called out in turn.

"First Squad, stand behind me."

"Second Squad, stand behind me."

"Third Squad..."